Finally got up the courage to trim my front mudflaps. I was a little nervous, but I took my time and used the tin snips method others have talked about. Made sure the truck was level, measured the height of the rear flaps, marked that height on the front, then cut straight across, same height on both right and left (duh).

After cutting straight across, I took the piece that I trimmed off and traced the curves onto the mudflap. Since the cut flap is a little wider due to the taper, I traced one side, then slid the "template" over, and traced the other side.

Before re-installing, I decided to add Clearbra where the flaps touch the fender flares. This took a while, but if you've done any clearbra before, this wasn't too tough. Hardest part is the trial and error of getting it cut right, but after you get one cut, you can use it as a template for all four flaps (rear needs to be slightly larger, so I used it as my template). I've only had my truck for about a month and a half, so I wanted to do that as soon as possible to make sure that there wasn't any fender wear due to time.

Tools that came in handy:
--Tin snips-straight cut, left cut, and right cut. Helps with the curves.
--Files-double bastard (Aggressive) and flat-cut (smoother). Helps to grind down the serrations from the tinsnips and remove the little flaps that form from re-positioning the snips. Obviously start rough, then go smooth (that's what she said).
--Sandpaper/foam sanding blocks-80 grit through 400 grit. 400 grit really helps "polish" the edges so that they look factory. Same as above...work your way to the higher grit.

Here are some pics...let me know what you think or if you have any questions! I'm very pleased with the results and really glad I did it.

I also did this mod as soon as i got my truck, what a waste of time tho! As soon as you upgrade tire sizes (which you will soon enough, if you spend any amount of time on this site) you'll need to remove them anyways.

subd, Looks great! I want to know if there is any less protection to the side of the vehicle with them being shorter. Let us know what you notice. Want to trim mine, but afraid I'll then be throwing crap up the side of my truck that escapes under where i trimmed.

Thanks for all the compliments, guys. Like I said, it wasn't as hard as I expected and it turned out better than I thought it would.

I'll let you know if I notice any more "stuff" flying up, but looking at them, it's hard to imagine the physics of something flying up and making it past the mud guard. They still look like they'll protect pretty well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jimsc

Did you remove the mud flaps from the truck to cut them? If so, how hard is it?

I did remove the flaps. The main reason I did was for the Clearbra, but if I had to do it again, I would take them off even if I wasn't doing the Clearbra. Removing the flaps is quite easy--it's just three 10mm bolts (which also have phillips head inside, but you'd have to have a pretty short screwdriver to get at them since the tire is in the way).

After that, there are three of the press-fit retainer clips. Slip a small flathead screwdriver under the inner flange part, wiggle your way around, then pry it up gently. Once the inner part pops up, all you do is grab it and gently wiggle and the whole clip slides out.

Really, it is quite easy to remove the mudflaps and it definitely made marking, cutting, filing, and sanding much, much easier.